Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Cream the cream cheese, butter or margarine, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift together 2 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, and salt; fold into cream cheese mixture. Dredge cherries in 1/4 cup flour, and fold into batter.

Sprinkle pecans over the bottom of an ungreased 10 inch angel food tube pan. Bottom should be completely covered. Add a few more pecans if necessary. Spoon batter into pan on top of nuts.

Bake for about 75 minutes, or until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan. Run knife around outside edge and center tube. Ease cake out of pan, and onto plate.

Most Helpful Positive Review

Dec 02, 2010

Excellent and five stars with some seemingly minor, but significant tweaks. If others have complained this is dry, it's not just that there's too much flour, but too little sugar! Sugar does more for a cake than just add sweetness - it contributes to the moistness of a cake as well. That said, I still mixed the cherries (cut in half with a floured kitchen shears) with the 1/4 cup flour, but I reduced the flour in the batter by a half cup, to 1-3/4 cups. But at the same time, I also INcreased the sugar to a full two cups, up a half cup from the 1-1/2 c. called for. Also, this essentially being a pound cake, I felt that 1-1/2 tsp. of baking powder was unnecessary and maybe even counterproductive. I debated using any at all, but ultimately settled with 1 tsp., down a half tsp. from the 1-1/2 tsp. called for. I wasn't confident baking this in a non-prepared pan, so I did spray it with Baker's Joy (a floured baking spray) before baking. This did need the full 75 minute baking time, and I allowed 20 minutes cooling time before I removed it from the pan. When cooled, I glazed it with a light, simple powdered sugar glaze and garnished with a few more candied cherries. The result was a perfectly dense, moist and pleasantly sweet pound cake, evenly studded with the candied cherries. Simply beautiful, and simply delicious. Oh - and the pecans definitely "take this up a notch" both in flavor and appearance. Do include them if you can.

Most Helpful Critical Review

Nov 29, 2010

I made this in addition to pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. I give this only 3 stars because it was very dry. I have to agree with another reviewer that there is too much flour. I would make this again but reduce the flour by 1/2 C. I also only used about 2 T. of flour that were to be added to the cherries. I would also double the amount of cherries because there was only about 1 or 2 in each piece as is.

I love this easy to make cherry cake. I made a couple of adjustments to mine. I added more cherries (red & green) and also 1/2 cup sour cream or little more. Turned out excellent. Baked in bundt pan for 1 hour and 20 minutes

Thank you for saving my day!! I have been looking for this recipe and finally found it. My mother and I used to make it at Christmas every year. We would make it in a bundt pan and also in individual coffee cans or small tins for gift giving. We also had an icing which consisted of 1/2 c chopped nuts, 1-1/2 c confectioner sugar, and 2 tb milk.

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.